Pet euthanasia bills up for Senate, House hearings

Twin bills up for consideration next week in state House and Senate committees would eliminate carbon monoxide as a method of euthanizing dogs and cats in Texas shelters.

HB 858, authored by state Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Harlingen, would make injection of sodium pentobarbitol the sole method available for veterinarians putting animals to sleep. A companion bill, SB 360, will also receive a hearing Tuesday in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

Injection is the only euthanasia method approved by The Association of Shelter Veterinarians, which has described use of carbon monoxide “unacceptable.”

The group says the gas stimulates motor centers in the brain that can cause convulsions in dying pets and delay unconsciousness and death in some sick animals.

Sixteen states have already banned euthanasia by gas, according to the Humane Society of the United States. And while the practice is still legal in Texas, several cities including San Antonio, Austin and Houston have banned the practice..

“Virtually every national sheltering agency and veterinarian association agrees that euthanasia by injection is the preferred and humane method for shelter euthanasia,” state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, author of the bill’s Senate version said in a statement. “The use of carbon monoxide gas is now outdated and should be eliminated.”